Sony, Nintendo Unveil 3D Gaming Plans

By Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 6/16/2010

Los Angeles - Both Sony and Nintendo used the first day of E3 here Tuesday to make their highly anticipated new gaming hardware announcements, both of which focused on 3D.

Sony also formally announced that the motion-control system for the PlayStation3, called PlayStation Move, will be available in the U.S. on Sept. 19.

Nintendo, meanwhile, said that its glasses-free 3D handheld video game player -- the 3DS -- will be released by the end of the fiscal year, concluding in March, at a price to be announced later.

Nintendo said it is hoping to cash in on the 3D mania by offering a self-contained system that doesn't require the purchase of a 3D-capable TV set or special glasses to see 3D images.

Special 3D games for the player are currently in development from game publishers, including Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft and Konami.

As for the Wii console, Nintendo said it will be releasing new titles, including a new version of Zelda, to compete with motion-controlled games coming for the Xbox 360 Kinect and the PlayStation3 Move systems.

Sony's Move system has a special camera that connects to a PlayStation3 and comes with wand controllers that let users control games with body movements. The main controller will sell for $50 and a navigation piece will sell for $30. A bundle with the main controller, the eye camera, a Sports Champions game and a demo disc will sell for $100.

Sony offers a combination of optional and mandatory motion control in new Move-enabled games, which will sell for $40 each, for Sony published titles.

In addition, Sony said it will offer two PlayStation Move controller peripherals, a PlayStation Move charging station for up to two controllers ($30) and a PlayStation Move shooting attachment ($20) that will allow the Move controller to be placed horizontally so players can hold it as if they are holding a gun, Sony said.

A special PlayStation3 console bundled with a Move controller will sell for $400, Sony said.

Among the Move-supporting titles on tap for release in the current fiscal year are Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition by Capcom; Time Crises: Razing Storm by Bandai Namco Games; Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 by Electronic Arts; Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest by WB Games; and EyePet, Sports Champions, and Kung Fu Rider by Sony.

The company also announced it will release Gran Turismo 5, the next iteration of its popular racing game franchise, on Nov. 2, and it will be among a list of titles to include 3D capability.

Other 3D titles announced include Kill Zone 3; Pain; Super Stardust HD; MotorStorm: Pacific Rift; Wip3out; Mortal Kombat; Crysis 2; Tron; Shaun White; MotorStorm: Apocalypse; NBA 2K11; and Ghost Recon.

Sony also will introduce later this month a premium online service called PlayStation Plus, requiring a $50 a year fee ($18 for three months).

The service will be in addition to the PlayStation Network's current free online play system, but will offer gamers discounts on PSN games, free content, early demos and other exclusives.